Arsenal (Full Frame)

VHS, Not Rated, Kino on Video

Alexander Dovzhenko's "Arsenal" represents the avant-garde masterpiece of the renowned Ukrainian director, employing the most complex montage style of any of the Soviet masters in this treatment of events from the Ukrainian civil war. Based on an actual incident from 1918, the film's story concerns a group of Bosheviks who battle against counter-revolutionary nationalist troops in Kiev. The Bolsheviks who battle against counter-revolutionary nationalist troops in Kiev. The Bolsheviks put up an Alamo-like defense inside the city's "Arsenal" munitions plant. Outnumbered by the nationalist troops, the defenders are overrun and defeated in the climactic battle, but their revolutionary spirit prevails. Dovzhenko mixes elements from ancient Ukrainian folklore with modern revolutionary content to suggest a connection between Soviet modernity and Ukrainian national tradition. This Kino on Video release is longer than any version of "Arsenal" previously seen . and, digitally mastered from 35mm archive materials, is the definitive edition of this legendary film.